Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-09-18

ming, but the comparatively slight
damage inflicted by the stroke was
speedily repaired. No trace OF it, at
nil events, is now TO be seen upon that
splendid pinnacle which is TO Salisbury
what the pillar of the Kootub Minar il
10 the enyirons OF Delhi. Miles away
upon the ridgey downs or the broad,
dusty plains OF South Wiltshire the
great landmark can still be seen
keeping silent watch over the city
at its foot, as stately and imposing
now, after more than six hundred years
of existence, as il was when Sir Chris
topher Wren tried his restoring hand
upon il in the days of Charles III.
Among the many English worthless who
lie nj rest beneath the shadow OF the
great cathedral is one OF special note,
who, although he figured prominently
in the history Of his time, owes quite
as much OF his fame to Shakespeare and
Sir Walter Scott as TO any historian.
On a slab in the chancel is en-
graved the name of Guillau-ae Lon
gospe William Lonesword). first Earl
OF Salisbury, the renowned son Of
Henry II. and Fair Rosamond, from
whom lie derived his popular nick.
name OF William OF Woodstock. "
One might well be surprised to see him
here. remembering with what severity
the dust of his Inflated mother was ex-
Guided from cOnsecrated ground by the
uncOmprCmisiDg chnrchmen Of Oxford :;
but this indulgence was fully earned by
Lis valor against the French invaders Of
England during the disastrous reign OF
John. Brave as he was, however. he met
his match at the battle of Bovines in
the person Of a stalwart French bishop.
a soldier OF the "church militant
in every sense-who beat him down
with a heavy club and took him pri-
soner. When Salisbury afterward
jested with his captor upon this singu-
lar choice Of a weapon the warlike pre-
late explained that it was intended
only for sclf-defence, the canons OF the
Church forbidding a priest to shed
blood. "By my faith, Lord Bishop
answered Longsword, rubbing his
bruised head with a rueful grin, "if
this be thy self.defence, God forbid
that l should ever feel thy blows in
earnest"
Beside the great Farl's tomb is the
stone effigy Of Norman warrior,
armed and equipped in the fashion OF
the thirteenth century. This, too, has
a sad and touching story. 1t com
mcmorates the death of one whose
ashes will never rest among those of
his kinsmen the second Earl of Sails
bury. who persisted on the fatal plains
Of Lower Egypt in the latest and most
disastrous of the crusades. The empty
glory of his statue and his epitaph are
here in the city that bears his name,
but he himself lies Wondering be-
meath the burning African sky, where
tie swift, dark stream of the Nile flows
past the minarcts OF Cairo and the
eternal silence OF tie pyramids, thou
sands Of miles from native England,
enid a race that curses his nation and
lis creed With uuquenchablc hatred
The word has grown wiser since his
time, and has learned that the man who
does quietly and humbly the duty that
lies nearest TO him may serve God bet
ter than ne who deserts his post to seel,
az the ends Of the earth some striking
and heroic achievement; but the en-
liphtened present may well spare some
pity and admiration for the splendid
failures Of the past.